AFL Round 4
At the Gabba:
Collingwood 2.4 7.6 9.10 13.12.90
Good win for the Poise, over a side who've troubled them in recent years. Good for Mick Malthouse too, who changed the course of the game with some smart moves at quarter-time. Mick's in the final year of his contract and last week the Pies announced they'll negotiate (or not) during the mid-season break, sparking meedya speculation about Malthouse-to-Richmun, Bucks-to-Poise. The Lyin's started well but once the Pies raised the pressure they struggled and tired very badly at the end, an injury to ruckman Jamie Charman was added pain. The Lyin's made two changes to the side which broke the Swans' yoke, Matthew Leuenberger will be missing for a few months with a knee injury and Albert Proud was dropped, incoming were Charman and Jared Brennan for his first game of the season. The Magpiss made four changes, three forced with Ben Johnson (fractured leg) set for an extended absence while Heath Shaw and captain Nick Maxwell were both suspended, Brad Dick was dropped. Anthony Rocca came in for his first game of 2009, also in were Alan Toovey, Tyson Goldsack and running midfielder Jaxson Barham for his first game ever, he's the son of Poi legend Ricky. Jaxson wore Dad's no. 43.
No rain in
Collywood's Browns, both playing in defence, hadn't worked out too well so Malthouse benched Nathan and brought on Simon Prestigiacomo while Leigh Brown went to assist Josh Fraser in the ruck. Presti and Harry O'Brien proceeded to do a great job on Dan Bradshaw and Brisbun's Brown, but the Poise forwards were a problem for a while. Jaxson Barham was introduced and he did very well. Goals alternated in the second, the Pies got an early one when Rocca tunnel-balled (i.e. threw) the ball out to Tarkyn Lockyer, his tumbled kick forward spilled from the pack and roving Dale Thomas snapped a major. A bit later Power was grabbed high at a throw-in and jabbed a short free-kick to Black, he lobbed a kick into the 'hole' for Adcock to mark and convert. The Poise began to work harder midfield and replied in turn as Lyin' McGrath blundered into trouble and lost the ball, Toovey's subsequent pass to leading Paul 'Steak Knives' Medhurst was a shocker but Medhurst tapped on cleverly for Lockyer to gather and slot. The umps let the game flow, ignoring a lotta potential free kicks like O'Brien's crude arm-chop on leading Jon Brown. The Lyin's scored after Daniel Rich roved a contest and handballed to Dalziell who lobbed a terrific left-foot snap for a sausage. Vossy seemed to enjoy that as his Lyin's led by 22 points. Incidentally, Voss wears a neck-chain with the numeral '3' as a pendant, his guernsey number during his playing days. Just a bit of trivia for you. The Maggies managed the next goal as Travis Cloke - remember him? - led up onto the wing to get a kick, he punted into CHF where Anthony was swamped but Pies Davis and Thomas combined to force the ball wide to Medhurst who steered a professional goal. Notting and Medhurst wasted chances for their respective sides and there was a square-up for the Brown non-free when Rocca was wrestled to the ground by Daniel Merrett, no whistle. Soon Black was shoved in the back by Prestigiacomo and passed his free-kick to Dalziell, who booted a tremendous long sausage. Brisbun by 22 points but the Poise broke the pattern with two late goals, some smart handball allowed Toovey to kick long and Swan clutched a strong grab against Selwood in the goal-square. Swan played-on and Selwood smothered his kick, but the ump decided he'd blown time-on or something, so Swan was saved embarrassment and goaled. Then tired Lyin' Patfull couldn't reach a pass and the Pies got the pill, Lockyer's threaded pass allowed leading Cloke (!) to mark in traffic and punt a major after the siren. The Pies trailed by 10 points at the long rest.
The Maggies backed up those two goals with a rapid brace to start the third term, Medhurst emerging as the game's most important forward. Pendlebury punted long from the opening bounce and Medhurst bullocked back into Jason Roe to take a very good grab, Medhurst goaled. A minute later the Pies managed a quick rebound, Thomas led for a mark and handballed to Jaxson Barham, he lobbed one to Medhurst who curled a terrific snap for full points and the Scraggies were in front, by 2 points. Adrenaline pumping, Medhurst steamed out for a mark but his shot just missed. Brisbun now suffered a blow as Charman limped off with an ankle injury, leaving rucking duties to the callow Mitch Clark. Medhurst missed again with a snap but was soon off the ground after a heavy head-clash with Selwood. The game tightened up markedly with a big scrum of players trapping the ball between the 50m lines. The odd point was scored but we were into time-on when the Lyin's managed the next goal, Travis Johnstone won possession from a ball-up and kicked to the top o' the 'square where Rischitelli juggled a very good mark against two Pies, he popped it through and the Lyin's led by 3 points. Jonathan Brown managed to miss from about 2m out and the Brians clung to a 4-point lead at the final change, but the momentum was with the Maggies. They just couldn't find anyone to kick a goal with Medhurst off the ground. Whaddaya know, Medhurst returned for the start of the final term and bagged an early goal, Rocca roved his own contest and passed to Thomas out wide, he handballed to Medhurst whose quick snap from the boundary bounced through for the six-pointer. Medhurst, in fact concussed, departed immediately but the Pies were on-the-bit now. The tired-looking Lyin's were increasingly trapped in their own half, as much by their own fumbling and mistakes as the Pie pressure. Adcock's departure with a hamstring strain didn't help. They did manage to score a rushed behind and a bit later Bradshaw marked strongly in front of Presti, but he missed from distance. Thus scores were level when Roe's ragged handpass caused the Lyin's to turnover and Pie Beams punted into a paddock-type set-up,
No doubt Paul Medhurst (7 marks, 11 kicks, 4 goals) was the match-winner with Scott Pendlebury (35 disposals, 8 marks) carrying the load midfield. Down back Harry O'Brien (12 kicks, 6 marks) did a great job on Jonathan Brown and Simon Prestigiacomo (11 possies, 4 marks) kept Bradshaw goal-less. Leon Davis (18 touches, 8 marks, 3 goals) is an important player and Shannon Cox (27 possies, 9 marks) is enjoying his role as the defensive sweeper. Jaxson Barham (28 handlings, 6 marks) made a great debut. Tarkyn Lockyer booted 2 goals.
Brisbun midfielder Jed Adcock (25 disposals, a goal) has stated the season in great form, so his injury's a worry. Bradd Dalziell (28 handlings, 8 marks, 2 goals) had a big first half and other midfielders Luke Power (28 touches) and clearance man Michael Rischitelli (20 disposals, 7 marks, a goal) were good. Joel Patfull (14 possessions, 6 marks) ensured Cloke was beaten again and Mitch Clark (14 touches, 5 marks, 24 hit-outs, a goal) battled well as a solo ruckman. Jonathan Brown and Troy Selwood kicked 2 goals each. Michael Voss was upset about the grappling of the Poise key defenders. "I'll seek that out with (umpires' boss) Jeff (Gieschen) during the week exactly what they can do for my own piece of mind and just to let Braddy and Browny know what can happen," he said. "We'll pull the vision off and send it off and make contact with Jeff during the week." On the game in general Voss said "I thought we had two pretty committed teams going at the ball and they probably did it just that bit better than us. They won the in-tight ball a couple of times and they spread really quickly. We knew coming into the game that was one of Collingwood's strengths, being able to get outside and carry the ball and they were able to do that well. We clearly didn't look like we ran out he game as well as they did. They looked a lot fresher and more on top of the ground." Malthouse said "We were more diligent and were able to put a little bit more pressure on where we needed to and capitalise where we didn't in the first quarter . . . Anthony (Rocca tried hard, dropped marks) is a massive target, he directs the forward line and I think with Nick Maxwell out it was important to bring a senior player with authority into the side . . . Paul (Medhurst) has got the capacity to play in a manner that if the right opponent is not the right opponent he will chop them up."
At the SCG:
It weren't pretty but it was effective as the Swans battled their way to victory over the Bluies. Carton arrived at the SCG without having won at the venue for a very long time. They started impressively, but missed a hatful of shots for goal and soon became mired in the Swans' rolling maul, amplified by the confines of the small ground. Some familiar questions were raised regarding the Blooze, concerning a lack of depth and an over-reliance on Fevola in the forward-line. The Swans displayed nothing new but they did win without Barry Hall, which was something. Hall was a late withdrawal with the groin trouble which's bothered him for a while and was aggravated against the Hawks a fortnight back, Jared Crouch was also out with a damaged hamstring. Replacements were Luke Ablett and a first-gamer in Kristin Thornton, a midfielder from WA's Peel Thunder.
A blustery wind didn't help the appalling goal-shooting. The Bluies dominated the first stanza but didn't put it on the scoreboard. Chris Judd, Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs each handled the ball, twice, in the Bluies' opening move and that pretty much told the story. But Brendan Fevola hooked his first shot for a behind, Wiggins and Gibbs also missed set-shots (Gibbs postered). On the kick-in from the last of those Fevola was harshly pinged for a 50m penalty, for going over the mark (the Swans weren't sure who was kicking-in). Fevola proceeded to verbal the umpire, resulting in a separate, downfield free from which Swan Darren Jolly kicked a goal. Classic Fev but he stayed on the ground, soon leading out to mark Nick Stevens's pass and thump a terrific goal from 55m. A bit later Ryan Houlihan roved Fevola's contest and launched a left-foot dribbly-snap from the boundary, he mis-hit it mostly but the Sherrin obediently trickled, with agonizing slowness, for a goal. Some reward for the Bluies' dominance as they led by 9 points. Fevola led wide for a mark right on the boundary and tumbled over the fence under the lens of the TV camera, a source of merriment all 'round but a reminder of the time Matty Richardson did his knee in similar circumstances. The boundary was supposed to be moved-in after that, but it seems to have crept out again. Fevola postered with the tough shot and the Blues were going far too wide on the circular SCG. Like yours truly at the pub, it has very deep pockets. And short arms. Um, a minute later Eddie Betts's terrific work also earned him a shot from a tight angle and he duly missed. The Blues suffered a blow when Murphy was clattered in a heavy collision with Swan Paul Bevan, Murphy played on but wasn't too effective. The Swans received another break when Bloo Bret Thornton's cross-goal pass was spoiled terrifically by Jude Bolton, he also laid a tackle which forced the ball loose and Marty Mattner snapped a goal. The Bluies won the following centre-clearance and Judd slipped into a gap to mark Stevens's pass, Judd majored and the Blooze led by 11 points. The Bloods clung on for a while and Ed Barlow booted a goal after the quarter-time siren, found by Jarrad McVeigh's pass. The Swans were lucky to be just 5 points down at the first break. But Roos made some effective changes, Rhyce Shaw had been useless stopping Judd so McVeigh took over. He didn't do much better but McVeigh went on to do some great things himself, while the freed Shaw also became an important player. Ted Richards was lost at full-forward, so he went back and Adam Goodes became the spearhead. But the Bluesers continued the behind-barrage early in the second stanza as Jarrad Waite scored one, Matthew Kreuzer missed a lumbering running-shot when he probably should've handballed to Gibbs and Kade Simpson sprayed one. Kreuzer was channeling the spirit of Justin Madden by wearing a padded helmet. Bevan's poor handpass set up Lewis Roberts-Thomson to be flattened by Simon Wiggins, but the Swans won the ball and Nick Malceski's good mark led to a goal for Jarred Moore, aided by a friendly bounce. Meanwhile Wiggins and Roberts-Thomson engaged in fisticuffs which resulted in Wiggins being reported and Gibbs began to make some uncharacteristic mistakes as the tide turned for the locals. Fevola missed again and Shaw ran the kick-in down the ground, his kick was marked by Goodes who chipped ahead to Kristin Thornton, he marked and majored with his first kick in footy. Hurrah! and the Swans led by 4 points. The Siddey Thornton soon came down to earth when he fumbled, fell on the ball and was done for holding it. Siddey bombed a few aimless kicks down the throat of Bloo defenders, Waite mostly, as they struggled without Hall's rampaging form to aim for. At the other end Fevola again and Shaun Grigg added to the Bluies' behinds tally. The Bloods scored two late goals, Shaw's long run ended with a mongrelled kick towards leading Ryan O'Keefe but O'Keefe gathered well and got a lightening handball away to McVeigh, who slotted the major. A minute later came a Swan classic, a ball-up 20m out which Jolly tapped down McVeigh's throat and McVeigh duly popped it through. Roberts-Thomson did very well to touch a late Cameron Cloke soccer-shot and the Swans led by 14 points at half-time, with six fewer scoring opportunities than the hapless Bluesers.
The goal-kicking curse switched victims in the second half as the Bloods bagged four straight one-pointers at the start of the third Mario. Richards and Barlow committed the worse misses. But it was indicative of the Swans' increased pressure, Jolly, Brett Kirk and Jude Bolton had given them a huge lift in contested ball wins where they'd been thrashed in the first half. With Murphy and Gibbs struggling, Judd took it upon himself to lift the Bluies. His tenacious effort to force the ball forward allowed Betts to execute a superb pick-up and handball to Murphy who stabbed a low kick for a major. Siddey led by 12 points after that. A bit later Gibbs's fumble saw Swan Richards wobble a punt forward and Jesse White was in-front to take a grab and convert. Goodes spilled a mark on-the-lead, recovered the ball and handpassed to nobody but at the third attempt Goodes got a kick away towards Jolly, Waite spoiled but McVeigh read it beautifully to gather and snap a ripper of a goal. The Swans led by 25 points and they soon extended the lead when Craig Bird sold a textbook dummy and ran inside 50 to drill a sausage roll. Swans by 31 and the pressure was on the Bluies. The 'baggers responded with a coupla late goals, Mitch Robinson was awarded a lucky free for in-the-back and his shot dropped short, but great front-and-square roving from Betts brought him a major. With 30s remaining in the term Judd was paid a free for McVeigh's off-ball holding, Juddy's wind-affected, floating punt eluded the Fevola-centered pack and Cloke took an easy chest-mark 10m out, he lobbed it through. The margin was reduced to a contestable 19 points at the final rest. Tough opening to the fourth korter with plenty of ball-ups and throw-ins, fine by the Bloods. It was Swan Malceski's turn to kick points, two of 'em sandwiching another poor shot from Barlow. Carton had trouble moving forward but eventually Stevens's aggressive two-bounce run and long kick gave Wiggins a chance, Craig Bolton managed a great spoil but Betts was there with more terrific roving and a goal. The Swans led by 16 points. Malceski marked right on the boundary and searched in vain for a passing opportunity, before reluctantly having a shot. He missed. Brett Meredith added another behind as time ebbed, the Blues were bereft of ideas going forward and just bombed to Fevola, who was surrounded by Craig Bolton, Roberts-Thomson and Richards. With four minutes to go Goodes was paddling the ball along until he could get a handball away to Barlow, his lobbed punt to the goal-square spilled from Jolly's contest and Jude Bolton pounced for a goal. A minute later a tired, under-pressure Waite hacked a kick from the Bluie backline which was collected by O'Keefe, the Swans' centering kick was marked by Luke Ablett who booted a goal. All over, with the Swans 30 points up. The Blues fought on belatedly, ruckman Sam Jacobs punted 'em forward from the following centre-bounce and Betts out-marked Bevan, Betts goaled. Stevens won the next centre-clearance and Cloke won a free, but he missed. A minute later Betts did well to set up a snapped major for Simpson and the Blues trailed by 17 points, but there were only 30 seconds to go. Nevertheless Betts wasn't paid a mark, or free, just before the siren sounded.
Very effective running from Rhyce Shaw (30 disposals, 7 marks) gave an indication he can take over the Kennelly role. Jarrad McVeigh (17 touches, 3 goals) didn't restrict Judd but probably had more say in the outcome. Jude Bolton (18 disposals, a goal) hunted the ball furiously and Heath 'Reg' Grundy (15 handlings, 8 marks) did reasonably as a leading forward. Lewis Roberts-Thomson (15 possies, 5 marks) held the in-form Wiggins and ultra-reliable Craig Bolton (16 touches, 8 marks) defeated the inaccurate Fevola. For the Blooze Chris Judd (30 disposals, a goal) battled like a leader and Jarrad Waite (31 possies, 13 marks) cut off a mountain of wayward Blood thrusts. Eddie Betts (13 disposals, 4 marks, 3 goals) is arguably the best small forward in the comp and Nick Stevens (25 touches, 4 marks) played well too. Bret Thornton (23 touches, 14 marks) saw off several opponents and Marc Murphy (21 touches, a goal) was alright. Brendan Fevola kicked 1.4. "That's the frustrating point about this week and last week," said Ratten. "We had numerous opportunities and we squandered them again. We'll sit back and look at the tape and be frustrated as hell. Another good start, but we had that with Essendon and against them we lose by four points and today we lost by under three goals. Maybe our turnovers hurt us big time and they got some soft goals because of that and that sort of deflates your confidence. We might do kicking training Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday . . . and hopefully by the time we get through to next week, we'll kick them through the sticks."
Paul Roos talked rebuilding talk. "That's the thing we've been trying to get across to the young guys - just contributing, playing their role, putting pressure on, and tackling," he said. "It was a good test for us and our young guys to play against probably the best young group of talent going round in AFL footy at the moment. It's pleasing to be 2-2 - you always want to do better, but I think we're showing that we can be competitive with a younger team again this year . . . We dodged a bit of a bullet with their (Carlton's) inaccuracy in the first quarter . . . McVeigh's a really smart player and he plays really well on those very dangerous players, so I thought it was significant."
At the MCG:
Hawthorn 2.2 6.6 9.12 12.13.85
Port
Well that's me told, then. Port did stand up and do it against a good side, away from home, with three key players missing. Hawkthorn's odd, pressure-free, open style of play helped Port - let 'em run and they will - and of course there are the Awks' injuries . . . but the Power deserve credit for their performance and Choco and the players treated the victory as a watershed moment. In fact the Hawks had a few players back here but lost some others and made an unusual number of disposal mistakes, under some very good Port pressure. Afterwards Clarko accused his lads of "lacking hunger"; isn't that premiership hangover? Jordan Lewis, Brad Sewell, Simon Taylor and Robert Campbell returned to the Horforn side here while often-injured big man Beau Dowler was given a chance, his first game since 2007. Outgoing were Xavier Ellis (torn foot ligaments), Grant Birchall (thumb), Stephen Gilham (knee) and Travis Tuck (shoulder) while Ryan Schoenmakers was dropped. Port made three changes with captain Dom Cassisi and Peter Burgoyne both suspended, Shaun Burgoyne was a late withdrawal with a bruised knee. Replacements were Tom Logan, David Rodan and first-gamer Hamish Hartlett, a rated teenage midfielder from
Horforn's zone-play led to a very open game with the ball travelling from end-to-end under remarkably little pressure, especially when Port had it. There was barely a tackle or ball-up in the first half. Port had some effective match-ups, Kane Cornes silenced Sam Mitchell,
The wide-open pattern continued into the third term, TV's Malcolm Blight posited that the teams had alternating ten-minute spells of superiority. Hawk Cyril Rioli was going alright, running handballs from he and Bateman set up a long goal for Sewell, a minute later Rioli got a great handpass away to help set up a chance for Franklin, which he missed. The Hawkers led by 3 points. A bit later Port's Rodan sprinted clear of defence and passed to Motlop in the centre, his quick, long kick found Brendon Lade spectacularly alone 20m out - the curse of the zone - and Lade handballed over the top for Tredrea to poke it through. And now more trouble for the Orcs as Brent Guerra limped off with hamstring damage. A bit later Rioli bagged a goal, marking Bateman's visionary kick. Simon Taylor got the ball from the restart and bombed to the 'square, Port defenders rushed a behind. But the Powermen advanced swiftly from the kick-in, Salopek went long and there was Tredrea alone again to mark and pop it through. The Powder led by 2 points and enjoyed a good spell now as the Hawks burned a series of attacking chances with poor delivery. Rodan intercepted a Sewell pass and kicked long to Chad Cornes, Chadley in turn punted into a Port Paddock arrangement where Tredrea held a with-the-flight mark and converted. Ebert sliced a shot on-the-full but as Awks Hodge and Whitecross tried to run the free-kick out they messed it up, mainly due to Whitecross's poor handball. He was done for 'bawl' and
Kane Cornes (26 disposals, 8 marks) suffocated Mitchell out of it and Warren Tredrea (15 touches, 9 marks, 6 goals) kicked the easiest six-goal bag of his career, maybe.
At Docklands:
St. Kilda 5.3 8.5 13.8 17.9.111
Fremantle 0.1 3.2 3.3 4.4.28
A terrible game really, I should've watched the far more interesting Adderlayed /
The Saints immediately dominated the bedraggled Dockerators, in front of a decently-sized crowd who'd come to see a slaughter. Early doors Leigh Montagna led, marked, played-on and punted the Saints forward, Freo man Dean Solomon's pathetic tap-on simply allowed Nick Riewoldt to poke a point-blank goal. Solomon should've taken possession, he could've. The Dockers were playing man-on-man and doing okay without the ball, but when the Dockers themselves had the ball, lawks-a-mercy. Skill errors are a problem, but it's more poor decision-making and just indecision in general. I'm laying off Mark Harvey but he's not helping himself. Of course the Saints are the hardest-tackling team going around at the minute, so any hesitancy by their opponents is punished often and severely. Anyway. After a few tight-ish minutes Sainter Nick Dal Santo passed to a wide-leading Riewoldt, he passed quickly towards Stephen Milne who was unselfish enough to leave the ball and watch it roll through for a goal to 'Rooey'. Andrew McQualter converted a soft free-kick for marking interference against Duffield, a bit later Freo blokes joined the spectators as Brendon Goddard and Riewoldt ran the ball down the ground and Milney popped it through. Koschitzke departed soon with hamstring tightness, officially. Not much later Clint Jones marked 60m out on the boundary and Daniel Gilmore slapped the ball out of Jones's hands, fractionally late. A 50m penalty and Jones sausaged, the Stainers led by 31 points. Freo hadn't scored and didn't much look like they would. They obviously got a point at some stage in the first korter, but they did battle hard enough to prevent any more Saynter goals. There was a fun bit when the 211cm Aaron Sandilands chased Montagna for about 70m. Didn't catch him. Why doesn't Sandilands run that hard when his own side has the ball? The Sainters led by 32 points at the first break and
Apparently Stainer coach Ross Lyon hadn't been happy with his lads' perceived lack of intensity in the second term, so they came out firing for the third. A fierce Goddard tackle created the first goal, Dal Santo gathered the loose ball, weaved through traffic and snapped it through from close-range. The Saints had a free at the following centre-bounce but advantage was allowed for Jones to run clear and raise the twin calicoes. Sin Kilda led by 44 points. Often the Dockers appeared to playing against themselves as they worked hard to win possession, then turned it over, then won it back etc. Palmer produced yet another poor kick to give the pill away and TV's Jason Dunstall pointed out what every Shocker fan, nay every footy fan, knows well. The lad Palmer tries hard, wins plenty of the ball but cannot kick. The Sainters were down with lairizing, Montagna blazed a long behind and ignored Goddard alone 20m out, but a bit later Farren Ray lobbed a pass into an ocean of space for Riewoldt to canter out, mark and convert. Not the smartest defending from Chris Tarrant there, although Taz is a novice at it. Tarrant and McPharlin swapped between full-forward and full-back every other minute, it seemed. No wonder Freo were uncertain going forward. The Satiners then worked a very good goal, yet another Freo turnover allowed Sinkilda to escape from defence and Gardiner marked the ball on the attacking wing, with literally no-one ahead of him. He hung about, chipped a lateral pass to Sam Gilbert and he lobbed one for quickly-running Luke Ball to mark and handball to Dal Santo, major. Good work as the Stains led by 58 points. A minute later gasps erupted around the ground as Riewoldt appeared to damage his knee in a collision with team-mate Geary, but Riewoldt was alright after hobbling around for a minute or two like the drama-queen he is. Meanwhile Geary had gathered the ball too easily and handballed to Goddard alone in the goal-square for a tap-through sausage. Saints by 65 points as Pavlich joined Tarrant in the Dokka defence. Schammer was reported as he dived sloppily onto Adam Schneider's head, not much contact but it was potentially dangerous. Riewoldt was benched as a precaution and the quarter petered out unremarkably, the Saints 65 points ahead at the final change. More hair-dryer treatment from
After a slow start to the season Nick Riewoldt (15 kicks, 9 marks, 5 goals) is going well and Nick Dal Santo (31 touches, 7 marks, 2 goals) is also running, or should that be front-running? Brendon Goddard (29 disposals, 9 marks, a goal) and Leigh Montagna (30 touches, 6 marks, a goal) did well and Clint Jones (21 touches, 3 goals) did better than his tagging assignment, Hasleby. Farren Ray (27 possies, 8 marks) is performing some 'sacrificial acts'; he's asked for a trade to Fremantle. Thank you, thank you very much. Sam Gilbert (28 touches, 8 marks) and Luke Ball (25 disposals) were good too. Freo, well, Byron Schammer (32 disposals, 8 marks) did okay, picking up some soft possessions in the back line. Paul Duffield (23 touches, 8 marks) tried hard, as did Michael Johnson (24 touches, 7 marks, a goal) and Paul Hasleby (21 possies, 4 marks, a goal). Embattled Mark Harvey said "There is a lot of hard work to be done and the whole football club needs to work diligently at closing the gap between a side that plays very well here [at Docklands]. In reflection, probably what they did last week and this week shows how far we are away from being a good side. Is there an excuse? No there's not, but we're just not good enough . . . It was certainly a disappointing night from the way we played and went about it tonight. Sometimes it's best for (the young players) to go through difficult times early and not get it handed to them on a plate (what?). But you really don't want to get beaten in those circumstances and then getting daunted by the next game and the next game . . . You look for answers when you go through a defeat like that and sometimes they can be very hard to find. But simply, right across the board tonight, there are all areas we never looked like getting involved in the game." Ross Lyon simply looked ahead. "You're going to be put under more extreme pressure than we have been against some teams that are in red-hot form. Have we played any of them? I don't know, but they're certainly coming. It's a marathon. Sure we're 4-0 and we're rapt, and we're kicking our 16 goals a week, and we're pleased. But we know there are bigger challenges ahead, and if you take the eye off those challenges and stop working hard, you come back to earth with a thud pretty quickly . . . there's some big calls being made - 'they're top four', 'they're premiers', 'they're bottom'. We know - (last year) I think we were 5-6, lost to be 5-7, and we won eight out of our next 10 and lost two by under a goal. In the context of the season, you've got to keep competing and winning because if you stop, you're in trouble."
At
Adelaide
But I did see it the next day, replayed! Yes, I'm sad. And if you don't know what this intro is about, read the one to the game above. As in most Catter games so far they looked vulnerable at times here but lifted when required to win easily in the end. Gary Ablett, in his 150th game, managed 46 disposals and 3 goals, not a bad effort. The Camrys would be spewin' over wasted opportunities, particularly late in the third term, but that's what happens against the best. It was an improvement on their spanking in the same fixture last year, at least. Nathan Bock returned to the Corolla side here, apparently cured of being an alcoholic wife-beater in two weeks. Amazing. Tagger Robert 'Don't Call Me' Shirley also returned, they replaced Scott Stevens (concussion) and luckless Nick Gill (hamstring). Graham 'Stiffy' Johncock played his 150th game. The Pu55ies swapped third-string ruckmen with Shane Mumford replacing Trent West and Darren Milburn (back strain) was a late withdrawal, replaced by Tom Lonergan.
The Cyats set a record for handball in this game, having 4,084 or something (actually 254). Over-using the ball is a problem for them at times. The Camrys' admirable pressure played a part. But the Catters do work the opposition over and sure enough the first goal came from a pressure-induced mistake, Camry Michael Doughty's centering kick was picked off by Cat David Wojcinski, Mathew Stokes punted forward and Cow full-back Ben Rutten appeared set to mark, but he was spoiled by team-mate Johncock and Catter Steve Johnson bagged the sausage. Scott Thompson missed the Cows' first chance before Gary Ablett emerged to torment them. Starting in attack again, Ablett kicked the next two goals. The first was a mark hooked through from the boundary with the left boot, the next was a free-kick for Doughty's guernsey-tug. Ablett would go on to get leather-poisoning when he eventually arrived in the midfield. Cam Mooney's miss had the Cats 18 points up before the Corollas scored a goal, ruckman Ivan Maric held a good grab of a Pu55y clearing kick and the ball was switched to the other flank, Tyson Edwards passed for Thompson to mark and convert. The Cats replied soon enough, Matthew Scarlett's defensive mark setting a rebound in motion and Joel Corey kicked long where Travis Varcoe held a strong mark in front of Johncock, Varcoe majored and the Cats led by 18 again. The Corollas were struggling to get hold of the ball but they lifted the intensity now. There was a battle at a forward-flank throw-in and young Cressida David Mackay was tackled over-the-shoulder by Jimmy Bartel, Mackay free-kicked a goal. Joel Selwood had a spectacularly gory cut opened under his eye when he clashed heads with team-mate Corey Enright. A bit later Wojcinski's weaving run was completed with a kick placed for Mooney to mark over Rutten, Mooney booted truly and the Cats led by 17 points. Rookie Cow rover Jared Petrenko did well to win the following centre-clearance, Richard Douglas led out to mark his kick and then lob one behind Catter defender Harry Taylor, where Jason Porplyzia lurked for a mark and goal. Petrenko then produced an excellent, unrewarded tackle on Varcoe, at quarter-time the Cats led by 11 points.
The Catterers started the third term much like the second, or tried to. Steve Johnson snapped an early chance into the post before another handball-heavy move got the ball to Ablett, who drew a man and handpassed to Stokes in the goal-square for a tap-through. Cats by 26 points. A bit later Porplyzia led wide to hold a good mark in front of Scarlett, The Porpoise steered a good kick for a goal. The Cats attacked from the restart but Ablett booted a point. Ablett gave a few fend-offs in this game, each accompanied by a contemptuous sneer at the would-be tackler. Quite the confident young man. The Cats won the pill from a ball-up and Enright punted forward, Ablett marked over Thompson and handballed for Varcoe to slot one, but the Coronas worked the ball forward from the following centre-bounce and Reilly handballed for Dangerfield to boot another long, running goal. He's good at them. A free-kick gave the Cows a chance from the next centre-bounce, Edwards held a great grab but missed. The Pu55ies scored next as Johnson collected the ball at a throw-in, shrugged and slipped through three tackling attempts and snapped accurately. The Cats maintained a 25-point lead. The Camrys now enjoyed a good spell, they were working hard. Tippett and Bernie Vince combined to send the Sherrin forward,
Gary Ablett's huge game featured 33 handballs amongst his 46 disposals, there were 3 goals too. In his 150th, his Dad managed 36 touches and 5 goals. Joel Selwood (33 touches with 21 handpasses, a goal) and Joel Corey (34 possies with 18 handpasses) also saw a lot of ball and runnin' David Wojcinski (22 disposals, 7 marks) was handy early. Steve Johnson (21 touches, 3 goals) continued his fine form and Jimmy Bartel (30 possessions, 6 marks) played well again, Cameron Ling managed 22 handballs amongst his 30 disposals, 8 marks too. Andrew Mackie (30 disposals with 22 handpasses, 6 marks, a goal) played decently. Travis Varcoe kicked 3 goals, Cam Mooney, Max Rooke and Mathew Stokes bagged 2 each. For the Cows Nathan Bock (19 disposals, 3 marks) started in attack but was much better defending, David Mackay (17 disposals, 2 goals) is in good form and Tyson Edwards (25 touches, 6 marks, a goal) and Simon Goodwin (25 touches) are never out of form. Jason Porplyzia (11 possies, 4 marks, 3 goals) is enjoying an injury-free run and youngsters Taylor Walker (10 touches, 5 marks, 2 goals) and Pat Dangerfield (2 goals) did some neat things once more. "We were in big trouble in that second quarter. It looked like it was getting away from us, but to the credit of the players they showed some great fight," Craig said. "You can imagine the pressure the players were under at that stage, so to hang in there and fight back and get back within three goals at half-time, again in the third quarter, and even after our start in the first quarter, shows a lot about the group. But in the end it just overwhelms you because it gets too much and our last quarter would have to be described as really poor . . . We can't do more (to stop Ablett) than what we tried to do. He's an exceptional player because he wins his own ball . . . you come a long way to watch those players." Mark 'Catter' Thompson said "We knew it was always going to be a challenge out here,
At Docklands:
Essendon 1.3 3.7 5.11 7.15.57
Tense win for the
Nothing happened for the first ten minutes, save a few ball-ups and some terrible delivery to the teams' forwards. Everyone packed into the middle part of the ground. There'd been a rushed point each before the umps helped Norf out, as they prepared to kick-in from Essadun's point Don Adam McPhee wrestled someone off-the-ball, there was a 50m penalty and the ball went to young Rue Andrew Swallow, who passed to wide-leading David Hale. Big man Hale was playing despite being carted off on a stretcher last week and spending an overnight in hospital. Hale passed inboard to leading Brent 'Boomer'
Hale kicked a behind from a set-shot early in the third term but from the kick-in Darcy Daniher's telegraphed, lobbed pass to Quinn set him up to be ridden by Harvey, the Roo man marked and duly converted. Another rushed point had the Kangerz 18 points ahead again. The Dons managed to build some momentum, Paddy Ryder and McPhee kicked more points, then Roo Scott McMahon obligingly stabbed a kick-in straight to Lloyd, who couldn't miss from 25m. And he didn't. A minute later Lloyd marked 15m out bang in front but as he lined-up the shot multiple whistles blew frantically - the Dons had attempted to make four interchanges simultaneously and of course they'd messed it up, placing 19 men on the ground. North had a free kick in the centre, they didn't score from it but the stuff-up had cost Lloyd a certain goal. McPhee was the culprit again, apparently. Another eight minutes ticked by before the Dons scored, Jason Winderlich spilled a difficult marking chance close-in but he dived after the ball and Roo Daniel Pratt dived on him. A free for in-the-back and Winderlich majored, reducing North's lead to 4 points. But the Kangas soon produced a rare, rapid rebound and Ziebell's long kick found Hale mis-matched against Lovett, Hale marked on his chest and goaled. A minute later good work at half-back by Lachy Hansen won Norf possession and Ziebell played deliverer again, his pass finding leading Hale for another mark and noice punt for a sausage. At the following centre-bounce Brent Harvey ran onto the tumbling ball, gathered and blasted a running goal from 50m, he was back and so were the
Brent Harvey (33 disposals, 7 marks, 3 goals) bounced back with some of his best form for North and big David Hale (16 touches, 11 marks, 4 goals) was a key performer. Midfielder Michael Firrito (19 disposals) did some tough work while junior Jack Ziebell (22 possessions, 6 marks, a goal) used the ball very well in a generally low-skill game, he's a long kick too. Lachy Hansen (21 possies, 11 marks) did well on a back-flank as did Gavin Urquhart (18 touches, 6 marks). Experienced men Adam Simpson (20 touches) and Drew Petrie (16 possies, 5 marks, 11 hitouts, a goal) were handy. For the Bommerz Brent Stanton (26 touches, 5 marks, a goal) was in good form again and Matthew Lloyd (17 disposals, 8 marks, 3 goals) threatened to be the match-winner, but didn't get the breaks. The speed of Alwyn Davey (15 disposals) was useful and junior wingman David Zaharakis (20 possies) was prominent again. David Hille (11 touches, 21 hit-outs) battled away and Jobe Watson (24 disposals) had some of the ball but them two misses, Jeez. Scott Lucas (17 touches, 9 marks) found the ball but his two shots at goal sailed on-the-full. Matty Knights said "The way we played, we didn't generate and nothing came easy to us . . . We had some good opportunities, but we came away with 7.15 from 48 inside-50s. I think we just panicked a few times. The game on the whole was a bit scrappy. The positive from our perspective when nothing was working, at least they kept persisting. We got within five points, got within a kick and gave ourselves an opportunity to win it, but we couldn't quite nail anything inside 50." Dean Laidley kept on about Chickengate. "A win doesn't wallpaper over the cracks but winning certainly helps. I was banged over the head a little bit from what I said in the media on Thursday (Chickengate is disruptive) but I didn't think it was reported all that well at all. It was a tough week, particularly early. We did a lot of things different. We had lunch together, we went to the movies. We went about it a little differently before the game. We showed the boys a video and we really mixed it up."
At the MCG:
"Judge us on the next month," said Toiger coach Terry 'Ploughed' Wallace after the Tiges' awful round-one loss. Defer, defer, to the Lord High Executioner. Yes, I've sunk to the mentality of a Herald-Scum sub-editor. Now Denis Pagan is being mentioned as Wallace's potential replacement. After the axe-man has finished with Plough, he can come 'round to my place. In fact I agree with Mick Molloy; the only people not caught up in the anti-Richmun hysteria are Tigger supporters, 'cause so far it's a normal Richmund season. But all this is taking deserved kudos away from Melbourne, who were keener, tougher and better. The Tiges made four changes to the side beaten by the Bulldogs, Richard Tambling, Shane Edwards, Jake King and Jay Schulz were dropped and replaced by Jordan McMahon, Daniel Connors, Robin Nahas and first-gamer Andrew Collins, a tallish flanker from Sandhurst, outside
When two struggling teams meet it's as much about confidence and belief as skill and given these two make plenty of skill errors, the
Melbun kicked clear in the second term as Brock McLean, Jones and Colin Sylvia began to win all the contested ball. The Tiggers have been hopeless in that aspect, and in tackling, so far. Richmun's Shane Tuck was done for 'bawl' at a ball-up and Jones kicked long, Jetta roved the pack and soccered a major from point-blank. Good work from McLean and a noice handpass allowed Sylvia to boot a long, running sausage, a bit later Miller was spoiled in a marking contest at CHF but Matthew Bate and Sylvia worked smartly to recover the ball and Miller slotted a running goal, his low kick 'marked' in the stands by Dee president Jimmy Stynes, who was sitting with the cheer squad. I remember when Richmund president Neville Crowe did that, seven or eight Tiger 'fresh starts' ago. Ricky Petterd converted from a mystery free-kick and the Deez led by 27 points. The Tiggers were making awfully hard work of it, exemplified when Joel Bowden handled the ball five times in a move which transferred the ball between the 50m lines. Petterd burned a coupla team-mates with a wayward blaze from 50m, but from the kick-in Stefan Martin affected a good spoil and Paul Johnson handballed for running Sylvia to hammer it through from 55m. The Demuns led by 34 points. Tigger Nathan Foley won the following centre-clearance to much
More of the same in the early third Mario, McLean roved a ball-up and handpassed to Sylvia, his pass hit the leading
Aaron Davey (25 disposals, 4 marks, a goal) has been a fine leader for the Deez this season to date, and great ball-winning drive came from Brock McLean (23 handlings, 5 marks), Colin Sylvia (19 possies, 6 marks, 2 goals) and Nathan Jones (16 touches). Cameron Bruce (24 possies, 8 marks) linked up well, as usual and Melbun had winning forwards in Brad Miller (17 touches, 10 marks, 3 goals) and Michael Newton (12 possies, 6 marks, 2.4). Clint Bartram had 20 possessions against Deledio and Ricky Petterd kicked 2 goals. Tigger veteran Joel Bowden amassed 44 disposals and took 13 marks as team-mates fell over themselves (literally) to give him the ball. Nathan 'Axel' Foley (32 possessions) played well again and Matthew Richardson (19 disposals, 15 marks, 4.5) tuned in a typical, heroically flawed but vital Richo-esque effort. Dean Polo (23 handlings, 6 marks) was handy in defence, Shane Tuck (25 possies) was alright and Andrew Collins (20 touches, 6 marks, 2 goals) made a decent debut. Nathan Brown kicked 2 goals. Terry Wallace battened down the hatches. "You don't get much tougher than last week. I'm ready for it." Asked about the 'judge us on the next month' thing, he said "I think over the last week we were judged and I think we will be judged again over the next week again . . . I wouldn't expect my players to (shy away from the 'challenges' ahead) and I asked them exactly that question at half time and I don't think they did. I think I would be a hypocrite if I was asking my players to do that (lift) and then decided to (chuck it in) because it was all too hard. The pressure of the situation needs to be handled. That type of pressure has brought down champion sportsmen all over the world, but this is a pressure-cooker environment and if you don't want to handle it, and it's too hot in the kitchen, then you're not going to survive in this game . . . All that I can say is that the only saving grace is that I went to them at half-time and said this has been diabolical and are you going to fight. I thought they answered that aspect of it and fought in a manner which you would expect them to. I reckon if we get our contested possession right we can get back into some area of form. Until we get that aspect of our game right, everything else goes out the door."
At Subiaco:
West Coast 6.4 8.7 14.11 17.14.116
Footscray 3.2 5.6 9.7 12.11.83
Huge rebound for the Weegles following last week's thrashing at the hands of the Saints. Jolly John Worsfold had read his players the riot act, with some senior men told their careers were on the line. Whatever it was, this looked a completely different outfit to the one smashed by Sinkilda. Playing at home helped them of course and didn't help the Dogs, on their second visit to Sooby in a month. The Bullpups didn't use that as an excuse naturally, but it can't have helped. In selection the Weevils made three changes, Chad Fletcher (groin strain) missed out, Brad Ebert and Ryan Davis were axed as David Wirrpanda retuned from injury along with Brent Staker and Will Schofield. The Doggies brought in Jarrod Harbrow to replace Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney, troubled by the after-effects of a knee operation.
A hot and humid day in
More scoring in a more open third korter. In the second minute Weegirl Mark Nicoski ran through the middle speared a low kick forward, it just cleared Bully Hargrave and Lynch marked, he goaled from 50m. Liam Picken won the following centre-clearance for the Bullpups, Johnson clutched a diving mark and passed for leading Higgins to mark and convert. Two quick Wiggle majors followed, Tyson Stenglein led onto the wing for a grab and handballed to McKinley, his pass plopped onto the chest of leading Ashley Hansen who converted. A Schofield handball won the subsequent centre-clearance for the Deez, another from Cox allowed McKinley to dash clear and slot a six-pointer. The Weegs led by 31 points, but a minute later Bully Boyd grabbed the pill cleanly from a throw-in and snapped truly. Nicoski baulked around oncoming Akermanis and Aker stuck his leg out, Dustin Fletcher-style to trip and/or kick the Weegle depending on your persuasion. Hmm. Wirrpanda postered following great play by Kerr and Masten to set him up, Hansen missed from a tight angle. Brad Johnson received Hahn's handpass and hacked an ugly centering kick, but Higgins swept it up and snapped a ripper of a goal. The Doggies loitered 21 points behind but were struggling to score consecutive goals. Tagger Picken, not afraid to get physical, became the third Bulldog to flatten Kerr. The Coasters stretched the lead with three straight majors, A Bulldawg was penalized for a throw and Nicoski sent his free-kick wide to Embley, who slotted the six-pointer. Mitch Brown drove a long kick where back-running Hunter marked by the point-post, he banana-ed it through expertly. Hansen missed with a free-kick but McKinley roved the kick-in and handballed to Lynch, who booted a frankly impossible (for him) running, left-foot goal from the boundary-line. The Weevils had romped 40 points clear. Higgins won the next centre-clearance for the Dogs and kicked long, Hill was awarded a fantastically soft free-kick against Glass and Hill goaled. But a minute later Eric Mackenzie's great goal-square smother on Eagleton prevented a certain goal and the 'Eagles' chant went up as the locals led by a healthy 34 points at the final change. Unsurprisingly, the Weegs were in no hurry to get on with it and the stifling heat sapped both sides. Dylan Addison's tired kick was swallowed by Brent Staker, his punt into the centre was gathered in stride by Matt Rosa, who weaved past a coupla Dogs and launched a shot from 50m which bounced through for full points. The Weegs led by 39 points and it was over. The Bullies boxed on, Higgins's tackle on Wirrpanda forced a turnover and Gilbee stabbed an easy goal, five minutes later full-back
Formerly just a tagger, Adam Selwood (27 disposals, a goal) seems to have grown a leg this season. Dean 'Big' Cox (25 touches, 6 marks, 31 hit-outs) responded to criticism he's just a stat-gatherer by getting some touches in the forward-line and Daniel Kerr (29 disposals, a goal) and Matthew Priddis (27 possessions) worked well around packs and stirred up the Pups. David Wirrpanda (28 disposals, 15 marks, a goal) and Brent Staker (20 possessions, a goal), possibly on Woosha's list (Staker certainly) lifted to play well (Staker on Griffen) and Will Schofield (7 touches) did a great job on Bulldog play-maker Gilbee. Adam Hunter and Quinten Lynch kicked 3 goals each, there were 2 each for Mark LeCras and Ben McKinley (on the list too, maybe). Shaun Higgins (20 disposals, 6 marks, 4 goals) worked terrifically hard for the Dogs again and Matthew Boyd (30 possessions, 2 goals) was handy, Jason Akermanis (26 possies) did some classy things midfield but didn't kick a goal. Daniel Cross (24 handlings) worked hard for touches and Liam Picken (20 disposals, 8 tackles) was one of several Bulldogs to slug it out with Kerr, he also won a bit of the ball himself. Ryan Hargrave (25 possies, 5 marks) played well at CHB. 'Rocket' Eade refused to blame the weather. "There's absolutely no excuse, (the weather) was the same for both sides," Eade said. "Both sides were fatigued; I just think they coped with it better than we did. It was disappointing (and) obviously, full credit to the Eagles. They played very well and deserved to win. They certainly play better here, there's no doubt about that. But from our point of view, we didn't fear coming here. Just the number of turnovers at times hurt us. Even some without pressure, and late in quarters . Late in the first quarter they scored three goals in three minutes - it was probably about the difference in the end. They scored eight to half time and most were from turnovers, so they obviously capitalised and were able to bake us out the back. They were pretty disciplined in the way they corralled our players. At the same time, for whatever reason, we tended to be a bit slow with our ball movement. I think we could have played-on a lot more than we did." John Worsfold said "[It's been a] bit of a rollercoaster ride, the last two weeks, but we've learned a lot. We need to keep putting all that to good use. It was a pretty committed effort. To take on a pretty good side and beat them was going to take full commitment. Throughout the whole game, there were a lot of good examples of strong leadership within the group out there and from some of the younger players . . . All players were clear on where they let themselves down individually and how the team as a group couldn't function well last week. They didn't need too much to be pointed out to them, because they had reflected well on it individually. I met with all the players just to gauge what they learned, how they rated their own performance . . . and what they believed they could do to turn that around."
Ladder after Round 4
Pts. % Next Week
St. Kilda 16 200.4 Port Adelaide (
Footscray 12 127.2
Port
Collingwood 8 111.2 Essendon (MCG, Saturday)
Essendon 8 96.9 Collingwood (MCG, Saturday)
------------------------------------------------
West Coast 8 94.4 Hawthorn (
North Melbourne 8 93.0
Hawthorn 4 95.0 West Coast (
Fremantle 0 66.0 Sydney (Subiaco, Saturday)
Cheers, Tim.
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